The prior art of portable electric clothes irons shows a variety of safety means which have been integrally designed into the construction of the iron for interrupting the flow of electric power to the heating elements when certain potentially unsafe conditions occur. Conditions leading to an interruption of electric power to the heating elements include release of the operator's hand pressure from the handle of the iron while the iron is oriented horizontally and completion of a timed interval, timed by a mechanical mechanism, when the iron is in tilted position, not held by the operator, while power to the heating element is "on".
A survey of presently available portable clothes irons offered for sale, however, reveals that no model of iron is presently marketed incorporating both of the two integrally designed safety features just described.
Furthermore, the prior art does not show any apparatus designed to work in combination with any typical electric clothes iron so that the combination of the iron with the added-on apparatus would provide safety features responsive to the potentially unsafe conditions just described.
In addition, none of the prior art teaches the use of an electric power interrupting means which depends upon the sensing of the absence of mere hand contact for shutting off the power to the heating elements of the iron.
An objective of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a novel electric power interrupting means whose power interrupting function depends upon both the mere contact of the hand of the operator and the orientation of the iron itself; said electric power interrupting means can be integrally designed into the structure of the portable electric clothes iron.
A second objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for converting any typical portable electric clothes iron into a safer applicance having an electric power interrupting means responsive to the potentially unsafe condition of releasing the handle of the iron while it is in the horizontal position.
A third objective of the invention is to provide an electric power interrupting means which shuts off power to the iron when the iron is in a tilted position and is not held by the operator, and therefore not in contact with the skin of the operator, for a predetermined period of time.
A fourth objective of the invention is to provide an electric power interrupting means having an audible alarm which sounds when the operator releases the handle of the iron in the horizontal position.
A fifth objective of the invention is to provide an electric power interrupting apparatus having an electric power connecting means, means for sensing operator's release of the handle of the iron while it is horizontal, and an audible alarm which sounds when operator's hand releases iron handle while it is horizontal, and an electronic timing circuit which de-energizes the electric power interrupting means when a predetermined time interval expires while the iron rests in a tilted position without the operator's holding the handle of the iron.
A sixth objective of the invention is to provide an electric power interrupting apparatus having an electric power connecting means, means for sensing operator's release of the handle of the iron while it is horizontal, an audible alarm which emits sound when the operator's hand releases the handle of the iron while it is horizontal, and an electronic timing circuit which de-energizes the electric power connecting means and de-energizes the audible alarm when a predetermined time interval expires while the iron rests in a tilted position without the operator's holding of the iron.